


Ace Trolling: The Twin Knights

by Fabricati



Series: Ace Trolling [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Houen-chichou | Hoenn, Other, Pokemon, Pokemon Contests, Pokemon Journey, TRUMPETS INTENSIFY, Wilderness Survival, background nightmares, but is it really criminal if you're just trying to get a new life, criminal activity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabricati/pseuds/Fabricati
Summary: A prequel about a younger Kerry Natar, and "That Disaster In Hoenn", as Wikstrom put it.





	1. Snow And Acuity

It was a cold October morning and Kerry’s eleventh birthday, the day she decided at last that Grandpa wasn’t going to get up anymore. So she was going to have to bury him and figure out what to do.

She got out the ice pick and grimaced. It would be a long, hard task to bury him; one that she wasn’t sure she could carry out on her own. And with her grandfather dead, she wasn’t sure she could rely on his Pokemon to help her anymore.

She took the time, at least, to release them all from their balls. Something he, apparently, had been too weak to do in his final moments.

“Go on! Go!” She tried to say, through her own chattering teeth. “He’s. He can’t tell you what to do anymore!”

She packed up her little bag, full of a dozen little things. There was something she was forgetting.

Oh, right. The body. Her hands shook as she gripped the ice pick.

There were two hands on her back. One was his old Mienshao, older than she was, probably older than her mother. The other was Li. She felt their aura. Saddened, and yet… Placid. Calm. With perfect clarity and intent.

Kerry breathed in. She let their auras meld with hers, as she had done dozens of times before in her meditations and training.

Her vision cleared. Her thoughts, previously clouded with static, fell into sharp focus.

The others were there, too, after all. The walls of the room glowed a faint blue. The Aura flowed into her and made her intention clear. The seven Pokemon, in unison, shook their heads.

They all had to go. Kerry couldn’t stay in this house; with no firewood and no supplies, staying here would just be dying slowly. Li’s mother and the rest of Grandpa’s pokemon-- As fine an array of Fighting types as had ever been arranged-- would go into the wilds and use what they’d learned and teach their next children before passing on.

She looked down at her hands, and then back up at their faces. Faces she knew well. The only faces besides grandfather that she’d ever known-- and probably the ones she was most used to seeing. Suddenly she felt a lot worse about leaving the old man than before she learned they would be leaving too. But her clarity of thought turned her head east.

She only saw the smoke from her burning house as she made her way down the steep cliff away from Lake Acuity. She stopped and stared, not sure how she knew it, but Li tugged at the sleeve of her jacket. There was no time to dawdle; they had to get to Snowpoint before sunset, or they would be in far worse trouble in the cold night.

* * *

Kerry dug with wild hacks and chops into the snow. The ice pick and spade were doing poor work, but the clouds coming in from the west didn’t look good. The only chance she had to survive was to bury herself under the snow for now, along with Li, and weather out the storm that way. It would be a little cold, and a little wet, but with the snow for insulation, they could definitely manage it.

They nodded at each other, and combined their auras to plow a hole out of the ground, and covered it with a tarp to keep the heat in a little better, and made a small hole for a vent.

She just had to hope it would work like Grandfather had said it would.

* * *

Even for the Acuity lakefront area, the snow was piling on, hard. The lake effect was strong here, dumping miles and miles of snow.

Kerry wasn’t sure how long they could stay buried down here. It was warm enough, but would the oxygen hold out? She wanted to sleep, so badly. Li was curled up against her. She was so tired. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, to stop.

She wasn’t even sure how long they’d _been_ buried down here. The entire thing was holding up, but who knew how long that would last.

Li had long since taken up residence inside Kerry’s jacket.

* * *

In her dreams, in her dreams, she was like those carefree girls she saw in the summers, running through the tall grass, frolicking. The lake wasn’t frozen over.

In the distance, the moon hung strangely in the sky, and seemed to smile as it looked up to the suddenly night sky. “I think she’ll do.”

* * *

Kerry awoke to the sounds of a search party. Or at least, she assumed that was the case. It was the first nasty winter storm they’d gotten this year. Lake-effect snow was pretty common up here, but to have it be this bad was simply poor luck.

The sound of shovels sealed it. There was someone trying to dig down to meet them. Kerry shook a little. Maybe if she brought Li around, they could help.

Li awoke and promptly retreated into its ball. Kerry sighed.

The roof suddenly exploded upwards, and a giant tree emerged from the powder, along with a woman. “Ha! I told you! Glaceon never lies. Hey! Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

Kerry nodded, dumbly. Of course she recognized the pigtailed demon before her. It was Candice, because of course it was. Who else would be out here helping a search party with massively powerful Ice Pokemon? It must be the local gym leader.

“Hey. Hey, you’re gonna be all right. Wow, you’re-- you’re a little kid, huh?”

Kerry nodded again.

“Hey, do you know who I am?”

Kerry tried to croak out words, but all that would come out were tears and a weak set of whimpers.

Candice sighed and lifted Kerry out of the hole she’d dug. “Well, let’s go ahead and get you settled in at the Center and you can talk about what happened when you’re done healing, okay? You gave it your all out here.”

The words felt like a leaden weight on her chest and she coughed, but was too weak to protest.

* * *

Kerry had never been inside a Pokemon Center. With how bright and colorful it looked, she wished she’d come at a better time. She was exhausted and cold and shaking, despite the blanket around her and the cup of hot tea in her hands. By her side was another cup of slightly sweet water for rehydrating, and some food she hadn’t touched. No matter how good the riceballs looked right now, they’d taken Li away as soon as she’d come in, and she always ate with Li.

Others were here, rescued from the snow by various means, including a boy a little older than her and his Pikachu, sitting next to her. Apparently, it had been him that had insisted someone else was out there. She still wasn’t sure what to say to him.

Sitting across from her at the table, though, was a woman she only recognized through pictures on the news. Candice, the Gym Leader for Snowpoint. “Do you know where you are?”

“Where’s Li?” Kerry repeated, her voice hoarser than she expected. She tried to sip at the drink.

“She’s getting checked out now. We found you both in bad shape.” Candice looked at her. “What’s your name?”

Kerry struggled to get her name out through chattering teeth, which slowly stopped. “K-kerry. Kerry Natar.”

“Natar?” Candice said, looking at her carefully. “Like the old man who comes down here about once a month? Odd, he never mentioned you.”

She blinked. Candice’s words felt like a punch to the gut and Kerry wasn’t sure why. “But… he’s been the only one around since I was two. Him and his--”

It was at that moment the boy’s Pikachu, having been hanging on the precipice of his shoulder for a few long minutes, finally decided to alight on Kerry’s shoulder. It was unexpected, but easy enough to shoulder. “Pika?” he said.

“Pika?” Kerry replied, in a decent mimicking of the Pokemon. Having something warm curl up on her helped. She swallowed her stutter. “Yes. He, he stopped moving a few weeks back.”

“Oh Lovers. Are you seriously telling me that you’ve been living alone with your grandfather’s corpse for _two weeks_?” Candice said, her tone warring between suspicion and something else. “Didn’t you know you could come into town?”

Kerry sniffled and tried to keep her hands from shaking. Were the plates rattling? She couldn’t hear anything except a buzzing in her ears. “I- I- Why--”

There were two claps and Kerry looked up to see one of the nurses, looking _upset_ . Oh, no. Were they going to kick her out? Was she going to be up on theft charges!? “That’s enough! Honestly, Candice! She’s what, ten? And look at her face! She’s _terrified_.”

Candice paused, and seemed to _switch modes_ , almost, looking at her with suddenly new light. Still, she seemed dubious about letting someone like her run free. “She’s been asking for her Mienfoo--”

“Which is _right here_ ,” the nurse immediately replied, producing a Nest Ball.

Li leapt out of the ball and into Kerry’s arms. They held onto each other for dear life. Candice breathed a sigh of relief.

Kerry, meanwhile, looked at the traveler. “What’s your name, anyway? I didn’t catch it in the mess.”

“It’s Satoshi,” he replied. “I’m glad you like Sparky, though.”

“He’s nice. … Warm.” Kerry sniffled and tightened her lips and tried to keep from shaking. “Surprised he’s not nervous.”

“Pika!?” Sparky seemed a little offended at the very idea.

Satoshi laughed. “I mean, Sparky’s hung around Charizards and Victreebel before. I guess a Mienfoo just doesn’t scare him after that…”

* * *

With that situation finally defusing, several faces that would likely be familiar huddled around outside in a snowdrift. “Did you hear that, Musashi? A Mienfoo!”

The Meowth spoke up next. “I heard they’re super rare!”

Musashi rubbed her hands together. “And super rare means--”

“ _We’ll_ be super rich!” All of them said at once.

“No more eating ramen out of frozen styrofoam cups!” Musashi added, wistfully.

Kojiro nodded. “We’ll finally get the hot cocoa we deserve!”

“But what’s the plan, guys? We can’t just walk in there with the twerp and a gym leader hangin’ over them,” Meowth noted.

Both Musashi and Kojiro thought about how that fight would go for about five seconds, and then sighed. “He’s right, Musashi. If we go in there now, we’re toast.”

“That’s fine, because we aren’t even going to try and fight _them_ ,” Musashi assured. “Come on, let’s go around the back…”

* * *

Kerry shivered in the padded sofa in the Pokemon Center. Candice’s questioning had taken a lot out of her, even with her new friend’s help. She was curled around Li. They were both at a little bit of a loss.  All Kerry wanted to do was sleep, but her heart was beating too hard to even attempt to try.

“Hey.” She looked up to see who was addressing her, and saw a severe-looking man with slightly tanned skin. He sat down on the other end of the sofa and folded his hands, leaned forward, not looking at her.

“Uh… You’re Satoshi’s friend, right?” Kerry tried to remember. It was all blurring together.

“Yes. Name’s Takeshi. It’s good to meet you again.” Takeshi looked over for a moment, then back to the table. “It’s rough, isn’t it? Losing someone.”

Kerry nodded. “It’s not just him. Or. Not _really_ grandpa. He was my grandfather, but the ones I saw most were his Pokemon.”

Takeshi paused. “And they left?”

Kerry nodded.

“Well. There’s some good news. Candice is going to try and take care of you. But… If things don't get better-- if push comes to shove, I was a gym leader, too. Don’t hesitate to call me. Here.” Takeshi pushed a copy of his card down the coffee table for her. Kerry stared at it, listlessly, not sure quite what he wanted her to do with it.

“I could probably get you Maylene’s number, too,” Takeshi continued. “She’s good with Fighting types, and I think she might be a better fit for you.”

“How would I get there?” Kerry asked. “All I have is Li. And she’s not very strong. I can’t get through Mt. Coronet, and going around it with the snows getting worse is-- well, you saw what happened to me when I went out to the first snowstorm of the year.”

He grumbled for half a second. “You’re a kid, you shouldn’t have to go do these things on your own. I should know, I’ve been there. Chances are, if you explain things to Maylene, she’ll come by and help.”

Kerry sat up in surprise and looked at him, blinking. “-- really…?”  

It was that moment that two nurses came out the back. They didn’t have their hair up like the other nurse had, and something about them seemed off. Something in the way they carried themselves. Something in their Aura. Kerry stood up, and so did Takeshi.

“Hey there! We know you just came out of the snowstorm not long ago,” Musashi, secretly dressed up as one of the nurses, said.

“So we’d like to give your Mienfoo a checkup!” Kojiro added, hepfully.

Kerry looked down at Li, who looked just as suspicious as she felt. So instead she asked, “I just got Li back?”

“Well, there are some tests we forgot to run!”

Now Takeshi stepped forward. “Shouldn’t you have told her that before giving Li back? I’m pretty sure that’s standard procedure.”

“Oh, so the universal boytoy is an expert--” Kojiro and Musashi shut Meowth up in _record_ time.

“Please, ignore our assistant Meowth, it’s clear he has _no idea what he’s talking about, we’ve never met you before today_ ,” Musashi said, grinding Meowth’s head into the gurney.

“-- Fine but let’s go with you,” Kerry said, looking at Takeshi, who nodded.

“Sure, sure! Just put-- Li, right? On this nice gurney here and we’ll let you come back with us!”

To absolutely no one’s surprise, they tried to run off with Li the second she was secured into the gurney. “SO LONG, SUCKERS!”


	2. Mienfoolin' Around!

“ _ SO LONG, SUCKERS! _ ” The gurney rammed through the fire doors that led into the care section.

Takeshi ran towards the cafeteria. “SATOSHI, IT’S TEAM ROCKET--” 

Kerry ignored Takeshi and ran after them. At last, something she should  _ be angry at! _

The corridors of the medical side of the Pokemon Center smelled of bleach, antiseptic, and a scent-masking agent that wasn’t quite powerful enough. 

Kojiro looked behind them and boggled. “Musashi, she’s  _ gaining _ on us!” 

“Stop  _ looking _ and keep  _ running! _ ” 

“How the heck can a little twerp like that keep up wit’  _ us!? _ ” 

The entire clown parade skidded around a corner towards the emergency exit. Kerry laughed, though whether it was from the heady feeling of anger, her own exhaustion, or the beautiful lightness of her power and the ease of flying down the corridors, she wasn’t sure. She bounced off the wall of the T-intersection and hit the ground  _ running _ . 

“Just a little farther, guys! The balloon is warming up--” 

“Musashi, shouldn’t we use our Pokemon?” 

“And  _ leave them behind!? _ ” 

With that they  _ slammed _ into the exit doors, the gurney upended, and they all went into the snowbank. 

“Li!” Kerry said, bursting through the doors herself. She breathed in. Breathed out. She marshalled her Aura. Pushed it into her hands. She’d never done this before. Her hands felt like they were about to catch fire. “ _ Let go of her! _ ” 

“ _ SPARKY! IRON TAIL! _ ” The boy from before!? The call broke Kerry’s concentration and she struggled to bring back all the power. 

“ _ IT’S THE OTHER TWERP! _ ” Meowth said, as Sparky landed, sending up another massive wave of snow that blocked everyone’s vision. 

Kerry had to say this for these guys, they sure knew how to change clothes quickly. 

“ _ BEHOLD! TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM--”  _

“Wow! How did you do that?” Kerry asked, darting around them. If she could get close to the gurney and get Li out of there-- okay she also wanted to know how they did that. 

“Ha! You see!  _ Someone _ finally recognizes our genius!” Musashi crowed. 

“We’re masters of fashion disaster!” 

“I wanna learn!” 

“What is she doing…?” Takeshi said. 

The Traveler shrugged. “I dunno, but it’s working.” 

“I’m glad to hear it! Team Rocket is  _ always _ looking for new members!” 

Kerry finally got Li free. “Oh, is that your fashion group?” 

“Oh, no, most of the other members think we’re a bit strange,” Kojiro said. “But I bet we can make it work!” 

Kerry started to back away gently. “Oh, well, I dunno, I really don’t need more crimes…” 

Meowth suddenly realized-- “You idiots, while she was buttering you up, she  _ got away with the Mienfoo! _ ” 

“NYEHHHHHH” Kerry proceeded to burrow under the snow, with Li’s help. 

“After her!” 

Satoshi leapt into action as well. “-- Quick, after Team Rocket!” 

Kerry wasn’t sure why she was running; she was mostly doing it for the sake of doing it. She liked it. She liked being able to move through snow like this. She loved the feeling of aura surging through her legs, the tingle of fear through her body. She laughed again, and tried to skid to a stop. Sadly, she discovered that here, under the snow, was ice, and she and Li went sliding for some distance before the snow piling up ahead them finally stopped them. 

And then the  _ other _ three came piling into them, and then the  _ other _ other three slammed into  _ them _ . 

In the hue and cry that followed, Pokemon came out. A Carnivine wrapped itself around Sparky and a Steelix. Finally amongst the noise and confusion, Kerry heard Li cry out! Musashi got hold of her in a net. “Ha!” 

Kerry  _ charged _ . 

“Hey, kid, wait--” Satoshi started, then sighed. 

Musashi laughed and put out a hand, blocking Kerry’s reach. “Come on, kid, what are you, dense? You have to use Pokemon in a Pokemon battle!” 

“She’s all I have left! Let. Her.  _ GO! _ ” Kerry smacked aside the hand, which sent all three sprawling to the ice. 

Li looked at Kerry, and nodded, eyes full of fire. Kerry smiled a weak smile. “Just like your mom taught us, then.  _ Together! _ ” 

They shoved Aura into the ground, shattering the ice, flipping back several times. Kerry entered a kenpo stance and Li copied her. 

“What is this,  _ amateur circus hour _ ?” The Meowth exclaimed. 

The two of them became a  _ blur _ . Carnivine’s tendrils snapped in a whirlwind of strikes. 

“Uhhhh--” Satoshi said, taking a step back. His Pokedex went off.  _ Mienfoo. The Martial Arts Pokemon. Known for the art of the combination attack, one flowing into the next.  _ “Well, okay, but why the Aura?” 

“ _ Every Mienfoo school’s style differs, and many use Aura to enhance their already impressive speed. _ ” 

Satoshi’s eyes widened as he thought about the implications. 

Carnivine took the brunt of the damage, both Kerry and Li striking together to send it  _ flying _ . 

“Sparky! Volt Tackle!” 

“Pii _ iiiKAAAAAA-- _ ” 

“Wait wait wait--” Meowth got it first and worst. 

The sound of thunder  _ BOOMED _ across the battlefield. Sparky’s attacks herded all of the offenders into one solid group. 

“ _ Okay, let’s send them packing, Li! Natar Kenpo--”  _ Kerry and Li both brought their forepaws together, built up two massive aura spheres-- “ _ STAR CATCHING FIST! _ ”

And  _ fired. _

\--- 

“All that work and we’re left in the cold,” Musashi said, as they flew off into the distance. 

“We’ll never get the hot chocolate at this rate.” 

“Well anyway, it’s that time--” 

“ _ We’re blasting off again… _ ” 

\--- 

Kerry caught her breath and watched the steam waft up from the ground and her body. Her hands felt like they were about to freeze solid, and she hadn’t put anything on leaving, so now she was dreadfully cold. Worse, she’d showed off one of the secret techniques! And for what? Beating up a bunch of idiots. 

Her feet were stuck in the mud now and Kerry slowly stepped out of the park field and back on to the road. She looked ready for everyone to start scolding her. 

“Wow, I’ve been traveling the world for three years and Pokemon  _ still _ surprise me!” Satoshi said, putting his hands on his hips. “I didn’t know you could  _ do _ that with Aura, that’s really impressive!” 

“I.. I guess so, huh?” 

“ _ KERRY! _ ” Candice shouted. She winced. Here came the scolding, as scheduled. “-- what  _ happened _ ?” 

They adjourned to the gym itself, which was a massive, sloped ice rink, with groomed snow and columns of ice. Kerry rubbed her arms until she got something warm to drink. 

“I see. Well, I can’t say that was the best showing I’ve had as gym leader. I shouldn’t have left you alone.” 

Kerry looked around, like she wasn’t sure what was going on. “Ma’am?” 

“Still, you’ve got a lot of promise. You’d do well at any gym. But I could take that talent and hone it at mine.” 

“See? That’s great!” Satoshi said, patting Kerry on the back. 

Kerry wasn’t so sure. But what could she do? She’d only be a load on Satoshi and Takeshi right now. She looked at her feet and away from the table, and dreamed of breaking it with one hand. “... All right.” 

Candice and Takeshi exchanged a look. Candice looked a little worried, but Takeshi was firm. Candice nodded. 

“Well, maybe stay in the Pokemon Center for a little while?” Takeshi said.

Kerry shook her head. “I don’t-- I--” 

Candice nodded. “Please. Take your time coming to a decision. I understand you’re in a lot of--” 

“ _ No! _ ” Kerry shouted the shout of someone about to be abandoned. “I’ll. I’ll go.” 

Takeshi grumbled and then nodded. “Did you put my number in your Gear?” 

“I… Don’t have a gear.” 

“I’m calling Maylene and Crasher--” 

“Well I’ve got a Poketch, so I can give her my old gear,” Takeshi said. 

“I’m still gonna…” she stopped as if realizing she was about to say something wrong. “Anyway. I can help get you sorted out soon, Kerry. But— Satoshi. You’re here to challenge me, right? How about… tomorrow? You and your Pokémon, and mine as well, still need a rest. But at that point, be prepared to  _ give it your all. _ ” 

A chill ran up Kerry’s spine as dozens of her grandfathers’ scoldings came back to her all at once. 

Takeshi kneeled down to look Kerry in the eyes, and handed over his old PokeGear. “Hey. You’ve got our numbers, right? If you need any help, just call, OK? It’s okay to be scared.” 

Kerry nodded. “Thanks-- thanks. I. I don’t know what I would have done if you two hadn’t been there.” 

“It’s what we do! Right, Satoshi?” 

“Yeah! I’m looking forward to seeing what you’re like as a Trainer later, Kerry!” 

She brightened up at that thought. “Yeah. Thank you.” 

And so, with a gym match to look forward to, and a new friend, it looked like Satoshi’s prospects were getting less and less chilly by the minute! 

But of course, this was never his story. 

**_To Be Continued..._ **


	3. Fell Off The Back Of A Truck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [TRUMPETS INTENSIFY]

Kerry awoke from the haze and her dozing by the buzzing of her NIBIKIA Pokegear.  _ “In two miles, you will reach your destination _ .” The thing had a screen the approximate size of a postage stamp, and by today’s standards it was cheap. But it had continued to work despite everything she’d ever done to it since Takeshi gave it to her, and isn’t that everything you can ask of a communication device?

The first thing she had noticed about Hoenn, stepping off the boat in Slateport, was that it was hot. It was hot, and humid, even in late September, and the rains lasted for pleasant hours that seemed to cut into the heat and the long hours of sun like a perfectly sized knife through a particularly warm, buttery bread. 

She had basked in the sun for a long few minutes there, before she realized she had to get into the back of the moving van, quickly and without being seen. 

Kerry appreciated the heat rather less from the back of the moving van. With no wind or ventilation, the humidity quickly became stifling and exhausting, all on its own. It was too dark to do much but sleep, but this was difficult; the roads were bumpy and the driver none too kind for all he knew he had living cargo in the back. Worse, it had been several days since she’d eaten properly. She’d expected to be able to do something like forage or fish off the boat, but what with being locked up inside a container the entire time, all she’d had to eat for the last few days was a bunch of salty snacks and rice crackers. 

After all, it would take just one quick inspection to ship her back to Sinnoh. 

She sat up and stretched, and tried to go through the breathing exercises that would balance her Aura and get her ready to move. Her breath was silted and sluggish, the air dusty and a little fixed. 

Slowly, the moving van came to a stop. Kerry closed her eyes. Just the driver. Now a bunch of Pokemon, too. A few people, mostly to one side of the moving van. Some curious, some expectant. 

The driver opened the door of the moving van. He was dusky, and ill-suited to wearing a jumpsuit. His giant muscles strained at the cheap off-the-rack bug silk, and his gloves were the wrong color. His name tag called him MATT. “Hehe-- hey, kid. This is your stop too. Go ‘round that side, I’ll make sure Senri’s wife and kid don’t see you. Get going. Rent a house.” 

Kerry nodded and waited for Matt to go back around, and his Machokes to come around as well. She handed some of the boxes down and watched the Machoke go about their business. 

She, meanwhile, took her bag, and more than a few credit chips earned battling in Vermillion, Goldenrod, and Canalave city. They were all she had, but she was pretty sure she had enough to live off of for a few months if she was careful with it and didn’t have to go around buying trainers’ gear. Heck, she might even have enough to start buying a house here proper. That  _ would _ be nice. A room she didn’t have to share with any other people, and an actual personal PC system. 

Still, she was all packed up, so it was time to get on out of here. She hopped down from the moving van, while behind her, an argument went on. “Look, I can’t finish unpacking until you sign for it, so no, no I can’t have you ‘just go ‘round back and unpack it yerself--’” 

Kerry slipped away from the ensuing argument. She knew that kind of runaround. Once she was at the housing office, sitting down, waiting for an appointment, she texted Matt:  _ @office, all clear _

_ Pleasure doing business _ was the reply, and outside the window, the Machokes were soon at work unpacking the rest of the new family’s things from Kanto. 

“Can I help you?” 

“Uh. Yes, what’s available in rent-to-own?” Her stomach complained.  _ Loudly _ . “Uh. And some food I guess.” 

“You’re either leasing or buying. First time away from home?” 

Kerry nodded. 

“Hm. How long you planning on staying in Hoenn?” 

“Uh… As long as I can get away with, sir.” 

The man’s expression softened considerably, a reaction that left Kerry tilting her head in confusion. “All right. Let’s see if we can’t get the ball rolling on a one-bedroom place.” 

\---

The flop Kerry eventually settled on was an incredibly economical use of space. A kitchenette held some plates and a range that was suited for either gas or Fire type precision training use. The bed folded into the wall, as did a table. Storage space within provided fold-out chairs that could seat four people uncomfortably at the table. Two closets were in the back; one was for clothes, the other was a water closet. 

Just outside, on the same wall as the water closet and the kitchenette, was an open-air shower, covered from view by fencing and a small stall. 

There was a run outside where Li could play around, and she supposed her Spheal, Butterball, would have to settle for the town lake. That seemed a shame, but then she  _ was _ rather a long way from home. She hoped Spheal would be OK to keep in Hoenn; she’d heard there were some down here but heck knows if there were a different form to them… 

She let them out to play as soon as the place was hers. And it  _ was _ hers, whole and entire. Housing wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t as expensive as she feared, and the fact she wouldn’t have to worry about it getting taken from her was reason enough to pay more. 

She even managed a few small luxuries for herself-- a large, padded chair where she and Li and Butterball could all sit together; a pressure rice cooker that plugged into the wall; and an indoor heated clothes-drying rack. The shower had some arcane mechanism by which clothes could be washed; Kerry would have, overall, preferred a communal laundry like back at Snowpoint. 

Still, it was there, it was  _ hers _ , and she had just dried off and got some clean clothes on when a knock came at the door. 

Kerry closed her eyes. Unfamiliar auras, two of them. One about adult human sized, the other a her-size kid? She blinked, confused, and went to the door. “Hello?” 

As she suspected, it was a woman, and a girl about her age. “Hi!” the girl started. “I’m Haruka. Are your parents home?” 

“No, why?” Kerry said. Her nerves caused Li to look in from the run, and then join her. 

“-- Is that a Mienfoo?” Haruka said, kneeling down. Li took a step back, sniffing carefully.  “That’s awesome! Are you from Unova?” 

“Uh…” Kerry took a step back herself, not entirely sure what to do about this raw enthusiasm. Butterball bounced in, his pink fur shining, and tilted his face, looking at the new arrivals. 

“Oh, wait! That’s a Spheal! Oh, and it’s a strange color, too! You’re probably from Sinnoh, right?” Haruka was looking at it and not quite at Kerry, and seemed to know to avoid eye contact. “I heard there’s a bit of a problem with Mienfoo and Mienshao being an invasive species up there--” 

Thankfully, Haruka’s mother stepped in. “I’m sure she’d be glad to tell us later, when she comes by the house. I’m Mitsuko.” 

Kerry blinked. This girl had her rumbled within a minute. She wasn’t sure whether to be irritated or impressed. “Ah-- Right, I’m Kerry. I bought this place, so I think I’ll be staying a while. But uh… I really don’t have much room to seat everyone right now, so--” 

“No, I understand, that’s why I wanted you to come by our place,” Caroline clarified. “We also brought something for housewarming from Kanto.” 

“We’re gonna go home with her?” Haruka asked. 

“Sure?” Kerry said. “Let me pack up Li and Butterball and lock up.” 

“-- Oh, right, this place is yours, you need to do that.” 

Kerry nodded. “Okay! Li, Butterball, you wanna stay out or take a ride?” 

Li opted to stay out; Butterball, however, had had quite enough of being out of the water and traveling for one day. 

Kerry nodded and locked the door behind her. “Okay, go ahead.” 

* * *

Of course. Of  _ course _ these were the people whose truck she had fallen off the back of. They were introducing themselves to everyone around town, except for the big research station that was the center of town, built on a big, warehouse-like pattern with strange antennas sticking out of it. 

“That’s Professor Birch’s main station,” Haruka said. “He’s a friend of my dad, and knows a  _ lot _ about Hoenn pokemon, probably more than I do.” 

_ … One of the main seats of government and I’m right under its nose. Fantastic! _ Kerry kept her grumble to herself. 

And their  _ house!  _ It was huge! Bigger than Grandpa’s place on Acuity! … Ah, no, that wasn’t true, now was it? It was true that it was two stories tall, and Haruka had her own room, but… The run was smaller, and there wasn’t any garden. “Ah-- are you planning on growing vegetables?” 

Mitsuko laughed politely. “You do gardening?” 

“I learned a little. Grandpa…” her hands twitched. “It’s good for stretching your budget, right?” 

Mitsuko’s eyes tracked Kerry’s movement, and so Kerry tried to calm her aura. “I understand if you’re worried about that, but you have a place now, right?” 

“... I guess.” Kerry stepped in and took off her shoes. Even the inside was calm and peacefully colored. Haruka spun in place a little before settling down into a chair. 

“I’ll get some snacks, okay?” 

“C’n I have manju?” Haruka asked. 

“That’s fine. What about you, Kerry?” 

Kerry blinked. Li quietly hopped into her lap. “Do you have youkan?” 

“Ah, no, we haven’t had time.” 

“Wow, you’re kinda old-fashioned,” Haruka said. 

Kerry stuck out her tongue. “Rice crackers, then.” 

Mitsuko laughed. “You’re well read about travel, huh? We haven’t had time to get any of those from here either, but I’m sure we have some. Senri likes them.” 

“Oh, really?” Kerry said. “Will he mind?” 

“No, I don’t think so. These are crackers that came with us, it seems he has his own bag.” 

The circumstances of this town hadn’t been made entirely clear to her, but then she realized-- This was perfect. Since no one was going to demand a trainer card, and she had her own place, there wasn’t likely to be a  _ giant _ issue. But it changed her plans. She couldn’t stay here very long. Before people looked too closely into her credentials, she’d have to find the local junior tournament, or take the longer junior certification. With one of those, it didn’t really matter how far she was from Candice, she’d be within her rights. 

But… The junior tournament wasn’t for six months; and unlike Sinnoh, they only took entrants who were already members of gyms when the  _ last _ tournament started, or ones with 8 badges. While it’s true that anyone who made TOP 32 was given a full cert… She considered the nearest Gym. Petalburg.  _ Dammit  _ it always came back to this family! What if they found out? 

No, she’d have to take the long, grueling cert path. And they knew Birch… Which meant… “Haruka. Are you planning on joining this year’s survey team?” 

“Oh! It’s true, I’m old enough now, aren’t I?” Haruka said. “And I like Pokemon a lot, so it’s not that farfetch’d--” 

“Were you planning on joining, Kerry?” Mitsuko asked, setting three cups of tea and the snacks. Haruka snatched the bag of manju and carefully unwrapped it. 

Kerry carefully took one rice cracker, and then nodded. “There’s not a lot else I can do. I haven’t gone journeying yet, so… It’s that or a gym, and…” She shook her head. “I can’t afford to join a gym right now.” 

“What about your parents?” Haruka asked. 

“... They’re not here.” Kerry said, simply. She decided to lie-- “Since it’s cheaper to travel here, and less dangerous overall, they decided to let me try my hand here.” 

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, but seemed to leave it alone. “Well, you can talk to Birch whenever he gets back from the breeders’.” 

“I take it that could be a while then.”

Mitsuko And Haruka both nodded.

“Great.”

“He’s just kinda thorough,” Mitsuko said.

There came a knock at the door. Kerry immediately started to stand up, but Mitsuko waved her down and opened the door. 

It was another kid, about her age. He carried several bags of groceries and had a sprig of tea leaf he was chewing on while he closed the door behind him. He barely stopped in time to take his shoes off, skidding to a halt and kicking them behind him haphazardly. “Hi hi! Mom said she’s doing dad’s paperwork again so it’s just me today.”

“Oh, Brendan! Hi, yes, just set those on the counter, we’ll deal with them later.”

Brendan nodded and slid the bags on. “Got it? Uh. One of you is Haruka, right? Who’s the other one?”

“I’m Kerry.” She took another bite of her rice cracker. Best to make it last; she doubted any of these people would want to be her friend again any time soon.

Li waved her hands, and Kerry gave her another rice cracker. 

“—A Mienfoo? You’re new in town, huh?”

Kerry nodded.

“She’s got a Spheal, too!”

“Wow no fooling? You’ve been to Lilycove?”

Kerry nodded. “Here— Butterball!” She reaches into her pocket for an Aspear Berry and fed it to him while they kept talking.

“Aw man and it’s shiny, too? That’s awesome.”

“I dunno,” Haruka said. “Purple isn’t great camouflage from above, and Sealeo hunt in packs, don’t they? I bet xi was an outcast.”

Kerry nodded. “Yeah, he was. Most of his pod had already started to give up on him. As far as I can tell, he was good enough at hunting, but he got himself into trouble enough that the rest of them decided to give up on him. So… I found him alone and hurt and what was I supposed to do? He can’t live in the wild, so…” 

Haruka nodded. “Well, he might be able to later if you train him right, but right now the best thing that could have happened was probably you.” 

“So how did you get your license?” Brendan asked. 

“I was a member of a gym for a little bit,” Kerry said. And the less said about that, the better. “It… It wasn’t the best. I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Awwww. But I bet it was really cool, though! Oh-- was it with-- uh…” Brendan scratched his hat in frustration as he struggled to remember. 

Kerry bit down on a Chesto Berry, which made a satisfying  _ crack _ between her teeth, while Brendan struggled to come up with what he’d been thinking of. The rush of it filled her nose and stirred her head. 

“You shouldn’t eat those,” Haruka said. “They’ll keep you up all night.” 

“Oh! It’s Cerulean, right? You trained with Natsumi!” 

“Sure, why not? What makes you say that, though?” 

“It’s obvious! Haruka and her dad are from Kanto, and you arrived the same day, so you had to be on the same boat! So you’re from Kanto, too!” 

“Sure. You got me.” 

“I thought you said you were fr-- ohhhh, you didn’t.” Haruka realized. 

Kerry smiled an impish smile. “Anyway. With kids like you I think I’ll be OK on the survey team. Thank you for meeting with me, I know it was an imposition with the packing and unpacking and…” 

“Nonsense! In fact, stay for dinner,” Caroline said. 

“No, no, that’s… Quite all right. I’m not hungry at--” Li poked Kerry in the chest and shook her head. “We have food at home.” 

Li shook her head again. 

“Oh, fine.”

* * *

Thankfully, Senri, for whatever reason, had decided to stay in Petalburg, so it was just her, Haruka, Brendan, and eventually Brendan’s mother and Mitsuko, and only a little bit later, Professor Birch himself. 

Mitsuko and the Birches had gotten out most of their Pokemon and were having a bit of a chat, though Birch was close-mouthed about what was in his own pokeballs. “So-- you want to join the survey team?” 

Kerry nodded. “I think it’d be a good idea. Get it done as soon as possible.” 

“Hm… Well, I guess I can, but I wasn’t planning on getting a new survey team until a few days from now. Besides, there’s so much field work piling up--” 

“ _ That’s why you have survey teams _ ,” everyone else patiently reminded him at once. 

“Ah-- Ah, I suppose so. I’ll. I’ll try to remember it in the morning. In the meantime, it’s past 9, most of you are looking pretty tired.” 

“m’ fine,” Kerry said. She looked at Butterball and Li, who were both clearly less interested in people now, and more interested in curling up in a corner. “... But maybe I better get those two home. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“That’s the hope,” Mrs. Birch said. “I’ll try and remind him.” 

“Wait, wait, let me put it in my Gear. Uh. Hm. I was planning on having six, but we only have three so far…” 

“But if you don’t get started soon, you’re going to forget all about it until everyone starts asking you post-deadline,” Mrs. Birch said. 

“I knowwwwww. Ugh.” 

“Well-- See you tomorrow morning, hopefully!” Kerry said, waving to everyone. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring in anything for you. I’ll remember next time, OK?"

“Don’t worry about it,” Mitsuko said. “Get some rest.” 


	4. Acquired From Reliable Sources

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry "joins" the Hoenn Survey Team for the year and tries to get while the getting's good. But sometimes things don't always work out like they drew it up.

The next morning, Kerry awoke to the sunlight for the first time in ages. What time was it? … It was already 0630!? Oh hell, she had to get up, Candice would probably want her to sweep the snow off the ice-- 

She sat up, dislodging Li. Out the window, rather than the typical freezing rain, or sleet, or first snow of the season, she saw a bright, sunlit sky, and suddenly remembered where she was. 

Hoenn.

She’d done it. She had no appropriate clothes, she had no power here, but she was, briefly,  _ free _ . She’d use it as best she could. Now. 

At her doorstep was a basket and a note. 

_ “Figured you could use a housewarming gift. You ain’t got much to unpack, but hey, everyone can use food, right? -- M.”  _

Inside were a pile of berry breads and actual Berries. Kerry popped a Chesto into her mouth. It would wake her up, at least, and she needed that desperately right now-- at the very least, after her morning routine she’d need to go get something to eat for Li and Butterball. Both of them were carnivores. Still, that wouldn’t be  _ too _ hard-- both of them had become very skilled at fishing over the past year or so. 

They’d had to. Entry-level trainers like her didn’t earn enough to be eating meat every day, and Spheal and Mienfoo were both carnivorous-- so if she didn’t want to fight other kids for lunch money, it was off to the pier to fish. Then, later, when she’d gotten up the scale (and gotten a few more Pokemon on her Ice-Only team), it had become habit; she ranged farther and farther from Snowpoint Pier in search of grander prey. 

The lake in Littleroot was a dawdle in comparison to the icy waters off Snowpoint. Heck, she probably could have grabbed the fish she’d needed! But Butterball wanted a swim and Kerry wanted to indulge him.

So! Something to get everyone moving thus handled, Kerry went into the run and started to go through her morning routine with Li. One, two, one-two-three, step, turn, deflect. The motions aligned her Aura, and though it took less than ten minutes, it was necessary every morning, and sometimes she did it again if she thought there was a major fight coming. 

Slowly, the local wildlife collected around her, as she breathed in, out. In. Out. Her body moving slower and slower, a smooth, continuous gathering motion that would tax a normal person. 

Her head was clear. Her eyes were open. “Let’s go get something to cook, huh?” 

Li nodded. 

First was leaping over her house to the footpath on the other side. It didn’t take long to reach a large fish trap pond, which was teeming with a wide selection for the diving hunt. This also gave Butterball a chance to get some exercise in, something he still needed, now more than ever-- after all, they were going to need to travel a long way over land, now. 

For now, though, there was cooking her own breakfast and getting everyone down to Birch’s house before they all woke up. 

In those brief moments, in the hours of rising dawn in early October, with rain clouds still in the far-off distance, it really  _ did _ seem like Kerry was going to be okay living with this. She could do it. 

Then? Then she heard a scream.  _ I could ignore it. I could just continue with my plans. I could go. Go far away from Littleroot and people with no clue of how to deal with wild Pokemon and live in the deep wilds and never bother anyone again.  _

She was already running at top speed towards the screaming. 

When Kerry arrived a good quarter of the way down Route 101, she discovered Professor Birch running from… a small family pack of Poochyena. Lying nearby, a discarded satchel had an array of small items and papers that had spilled out of it. 

Kerry felt she wasn’t much of an expert as far as battling went, but she was  _ pretty _ sure that anyone with a position like Professor Birch’s could have a team that would  _ utterly spank _ all of these Poochyena in one go. “Uh… Professor--” 

“I left my team at home!” 

The plot  _ thinned _ . Kerry groaned and looked around, immediately, for something to spook them off with. 

What she seized on were the Pokeballs that had fallen out of Birch’s discarded satchel. She gave it a quick scan with Aura, her awareness welling outwards. She knew that Aura alone wasn’t a  _ great _ indication of a Pokemon’s power, but she was after compatibility first, strength second.

Figuring it better to ask forgiveness than beg permission, she picked the Pokeball that had the most aura in it, and pushed herself forward between Birch and the Poochyenas, releasing the Pokeball as she went. 

She’d expected something powerful, something incredibly useful, something that would see Professor Birch in trouble and either calm Birch down or let her take over. 

What she got was a Torchic. There was a long pause. The Torchic looked around, saw a kid, saw an adult, saw five Poochyena, and promptly hid behind the kid. 

Kerry sighed, and let her Aura well up. Up and up, as big as she could manage! 

That cowed four of the Poochyena off, and made Birch stare at her for a long moment, shaking a little. 

She nodded.  _ This I can do something about. _ “Okay, miss Torchic. You ready?” 

The Torchic nodded! She’d found a new mom! 

Not long after, the last Poochyena was limping away and Kerry and the Torchic were seeing to Professor Birch. She offered him a hand up. “Are you okay? Nothing injured? Can you stand?” 

“Uh. Yes, yes I think so. Young lady… You’re… Kerry, right?” Birch felt a surprising strength yank him upwards, and he stared at his hand and Kerry’s for a half a second. “We met last night?”

“Yeah! Uh…” She put away the Torchic and handed the Pokeball over to Birch. “Oh! Here’s your Torchic back.” 

“You’ve earned a place on the survey team. Keep it.” Birch packed up the remaining five balls into his briefcase, along with what papers weren’t utterly ruined by the damp. “Come by my house, I’ll give you breakfast or… Something, I guess.” 

“Ah, no, that’s.. That’s fine, I don’t need--”

“Oh, hey, you’re Kerry!” Brendan said, making Kerry jump halfway out of her skin. “Mom found out that Dad left behind his team so she sent me to go looking for him--” 

“It’s okay, Brendan,” Professor Birch said, dusting himself off. “I’m. I’m fine. Let’s just. Head home, OK?” 

* * *

“I can’t believe it, this is the  _ third time _ you’ve been out there without your team in the last month.” Mrs. Birch sighed. “What am I going to do if you get hurt, hmmm?” 

“Sorry…” Professor Birch said, shaking his head. “I know it’s been tough, but hey, at least Kerry was there this time!” 

“It was five Poochyena,” Kerry said, sipping at some juice they’d all provided her, despite her protests. “All of them males. You’da been fine.”

They all looked at her like she’d grown a second, stranger head somewhere next to her first. “What? I read up on the local Pokemon before coming here. Most Poochyena are pretty skittish, even in groups. Come on, Professor, you  _ approved _ that research…” 

“I’m… Surprised you’re treating Pokemon so cavalier, young lady.” 

Kerry scratched her head. “What do you mean? They were pretty easy to read, and I figured as long as I was going to be staying in Littleroot a while...” 

“Awww! You got Torchic? Bites.” Brendan said, rooting through his father’s suitcase. 

Kerry looked over. “... Of course, it could be that you carry around manju.” 

Mrs. Birch huffed. “You were planning on just leaving ahead of breakfast, too? And I was making fish porridge?” 

Kerry looked up from her juice and blinked. That Aura-- No, those  _ Auras _ outside. It was familiar. She hopped down from the chair.

“It’s before sunrise, you have to get out early if you want to see the Taillow--” 

There came a gentle knock at the door. “... Oh, who else did I ask to come--” Birch walked to the door, with Kerry as close to him as politeness would allow, very carefully more than two tatami away at all times. 

For a moment, Kerry hoped that it would be Satoshi-- the only  _ other _ person she could think of that would be so familiar-- but no, it was simply that she’d sensed Mitsuko and Haruka in this  _ exact _ position. “Well, I’d better get out--” 

“You’re leaving already? Was it something I did?” Haruka  asked. 

“Ah, it’s not anything you did, Haruka, it’s that I really need to start out if I’m on the survey team for real.” 

Birch looked over at her. “What do you mean?” 

Kerry straightened up, her posture and expression suddenly distressingly formal. “Professor Birch, I want to take my junior certification in Hoenn.” 

“Hm. I can do that. Uh-- do you already have your license?” 

“Yes. That was handled back home.” True enough. “Here’s my trainer card.” 

“Mm. I’ll waive that pending a background check then… ah, right, you didn’t join the survey team, here, give me--” Birch paused, looked at Kerry’s trainer card, then back at her, then back at the trainer card, squinting and muttering to himself. “... date of issue…  _ How _ far along? … impressive...” 

No one else seemed to notice or care about the Professor talking to himself, so Kerry shrugged and let it pass. 

“Okay, come along then,” Professor Birch said, trying to take Kerry by the wrist, which she pulled away from. Birch blinked, and nodded, going on his way. His muttering continued. “Definitely not then…” 

Getting a Pokedex was as simple as using her trainer card in one of the blanks, which Birch had to fish out of one of the many boxes stacked on shelves he had around the place. “You’ll want to keep it charged, but other than that it should be good to go!” 

* * *

“Let’s see. If I swim for it, I can get to Mauville this way…” She’d blown past Oldale Town in a rush as soon as she figured out that the Poke Mart was dead out of Poke Balls, and the way to Petalburg was blocked by someone taking a plaster cast of his own footprint. Best to leave him to it, in her mind. Kerry stared at the Pokedex in her hands, reviewing the region map and getting distracted by the giant, pro-quality camera sticking out of one side. 

Best to get while the getting was good. As soon as those people realized she’d conned them out of a starter, a Pokedex, and a salary, they’d want to find her.  _ Hopefully _ by the time that happened, she’d be  _ real _ gone. 

Not that the Birches saw it this way; the remaining conversation at the breakfast table had included, among other things, the start of May’s journey, the fact that Kerry had just saved Professor Birch a lot of embarrassment if nothing else, and the day they had ahead of them. Mitsuko, however, had noticed that Kerry had left without even having breakfast. Thus, Mrs. Birch tasked Brendan with carrying said breakfast and a lunch to her. 

Since the Pokedex number was registered, this wasn’t difficult. 

Thus, by the time Kerry had just finished changing into her gym swimsuit and made ready to swim across the lake to Mauville, Brendan shouted for her, and her own nerves dumped her several yards into the water.

She had entirely forgotten her things on the shore. Kerry hauled herself back onto shore with little trouble. “Oh, uh, hey! I didn’t expect to see you so soon!” 

“Oh, yeah, uh.” Brendan blinked, looking at the name plate on her chest. “Huh. You were a gym trainer?” 

Kerry looked down at her swimsuit, which still had SNOWPOINT 4 - KERI on it in kana. “Oh. Uh. Yeah.”  _ Here it comes, here comes all the bullshit, he’s going to immediately figure out I lied-- _

“Come on, I brought your breakfast. And lunch. But wow, you were a gym trainer? You’ve had  _ actual _ battle experience?” 

Kerry blinked. “Uh. Yeah. Mostly… Mostly with my ice types, but yeah.” 

“Wow! We never get to see ice-types down here. What’s it like? How do you work with them?” Brendan’s enthusiasm while he watched Kerry eat was a little infectious, but also a little embarrassing. 

“Oh, well, uh… One of the things you have to remember is that ice is a rare, slightly fragile type. It has some moves that freeze things solid, but it’s actually pretty rare to manage that. So ideally, what you want to do instead, is--”  _ Give it your all! Focus! _ Kerry shook her head, then continued, a little sour. “What  _ I _ think works, is that you have to get into setup and status moves. It’s a little tricky-- a lot of ice types are kinda slow-- but they learn a lot of things that can help keep opponents locked down to get that deep freeze in. And if all else fails, you can bring in a revenge striker or--” 

“What about switching?” 

“Every turn an opponent is switching because I lowered their offense is a turn I get free setup.” She bounced her head. “Maybe hail, too.” 

“You don’t have Hail on all your ice-types?” 

Kerry growled in exasperation. Candice had said something similar, and while she knew Brendan probably didn’t deserve it, all her frustration spat out of her at once. “Hell no! It’s good, but it’s not  _ every  _ Ice-type _ needs  _ it good, no matter  _ what _ people say. For one thing, there’s a lot of Pokemon that outright ignore it-- and you’d better believe anyone who’s done their research is coming to the gym armed with that knowledge. For another thing, Sneasel and a few others  _ need  _ to be able to strike quickly and do a lot of damage, and Hail is like sandstorms-- in a battle you kick one up because you’ve got a wall and want to let the damage tick over.” 

Brendan blinked and watched her tear into her breakfast again. “Wow, you really know your stuff.” 

“Yeah I do! And if I wasn’t restricted to ice-types because of the gym rules I’d probably have a regional invite by now!” 

Brendan smiled. “I bet you’re  _ really good  _ with Ice-types now.” 

“I  _ had  _ to! I have  _ three _ obligate carnivores.  _ Three!” _ She threw up her hands for a moment before returning to calmly eating her breakfast. Brendan laughed. “Oh  _ and _ Swinub, they can live off plants indefinitely but they don’t like it, they like insects, too-- which made it a relief in spring and mid-summer, let me tell  _ you _ .” 

“Hm. You know. I was gonna ask you for a battle, but the only Pokemon I’ve got is the Treecko I just got from Dad. You’d probably wipe the floor with me--” 

Kerry raised an eyebrow, and then slowly finished off the soup, clapping once. “Thank you for bringing this. But how about this. You and me, Torchic versus Treecko?” 

“Did you name yours yet?” 

“... No, I hadn’t, actually. I don’t know a lot about her-- I’d been hoping to learn more about her for a day or two…” 

“They hatched a week ago. I’m sure whatever you learn about them now is going to change later, go with something like Slappy.” 

“... You named your Treecko Slappy?” Kerry snickered. 

“-- Just for that let’s go, right now--” 

 

* * *

About a minute later, Kerry set her hand on one hip, looking at the downed Treecko in front of her, and then kneeling down to pet her Torchic. “Good job...  Yeah, I think I got a good name for her, now. Cinders. What do you think?”

Brendan groaned. “I think you’re terrifying, is what I think.” 

“Ha.” Kerry continued to pet Cinders, who basked in the attention. “Um. Am I gonna have to return the bento box any time soon? Because I really want to get started on my certification, and I might not be back until I’m cleared to fly.” 

“Well, I dunno. There’s some pretty cool stuff over in Rustboro, and Dewford and Verdanturf have some pretty unique items you can’t get anywhere else in Hoenn.” Brendan tilted his head. “But with how fast you got Cinders already, I bet you could befriend just about  _ any _ Pokemon! No doubt.” 

Kerry sat up and raised an eyebrow at him. “You have a team.” 

Brendan took a step back. “Ah, no no, I just travel a lot of places with Mom and Dad, because Dad always likes to check in with his researchers.” 

“Mm. Well. Remember, every Pokemon is different, even within a species. But just as similarly, pokemon  _ I  _ work well with might not be Pokemon  _ you _ work well with. You also didn’t answer my question. Is your mom gonna miss this box? ‘Cause even if I  _ do _ come back it’s not happening today.” Still, sitting in the sun, after a hard battle, with a swim to Mauville on the way to getting the rest of her badges, talking with someone in a pleasant, bantery way? It was a pretty good feeling. 

“So why swim to Mauville, anyway?” Brendan asked. 

“Some idiot’s taking a plaster cast of his own footprint on 102 and is blocking the road.” She shrugged. “I assume he’s some sort of student and any footprint will do.” 

“Oh him? Nah, I know him, he got eight badges but has, uh…” Brendan paused, trying to figure out how to put it delicately. “He’s very energetic, but…” 

“Sometimes he lets his fancies get the better of him?” 

“Yeah… I don’t like talking bad about Dad’s co-workers, though…”

"... Hm. Will he be gone?" 

"Yeah, probably. But uh-- is that really the only reason you want to go to mauville? Because I'll warn you, going across here will just dump you back near Slateport, near the start of the bike overpass."

"... Petalburg it is!" Kerry said. "Thanks for breakfast, but I'm already behind schedule if that's the case. So, uh, I'd better haul. Later!" 

"Good luck!" 


	5. Pickup Discount

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Gentle Wally Theme*

It was twilight by the time Kerry huffed and puffed her way into Petalburg. The lunch had been welcome, and besides that, she’d made a great start. When Li had noticed what she was doing, she’d insisted on joining the endurance training for a while. 

But with the punishing Hoenn heat and Kerry’s thick, ice-weather clothes, she was down to her base layer and still sweating, caked with layers of mud and ash.

In worse shape were her new trainees. Simply training Cinders to follow Kerry wasn’t easy, but she’d eventually caught on. 

No, the problem was the other trainees she’d found when the Pokedex’s radar had started going off. 

The Zigzagoon, “Zaggy”, seemed to get by mostly on looking too cute to attack. Under that surface, however, was a hardy little fighter that kept everyone’s spirits up and had a fur coat better suited to the heat than Kerry’s fleeces. 

And the Poochyena-- Bitey. Bitey was a little different. Bitey knew Ice Fang. Kerry wasn’t sure how Bitey had learned it, but the cold had been so welcome, she hadn’t cared about the cut on her arm for a good few seconds. 

But like Cinders, they had been balking at the pace, and were now far too tired. So now everyone but Li was in their balls. 

And now? Now Kerry had been pushing herself all day, burning Aura, and had only managed to make it to sundown without spending the night in the wild. Worse, she’d had to realign  _ twice _ . She was in worse shape from the trip over than she thought. She returned her team before she stepped into town, much to the entire team’s relief. 

Kerry walked into what she could only hope was a Pokemon Center and not some dude’s house with a big red roof and accent lighting. 

She needn’t have worried; not only was the place a Pokemon Center, it seemed there was something of a hubbub already. Half a dozen other trainers were in the lobby, trading stories. A few of them had washed up, and a few of them had not. Pokemon, of all shapes and sizes, lay near their trainers. It stank vaguely of dog and human. 

Her stomach growled. As lovely as the bento was, she was hungry, for reasons she didn’t quite understand. She was having as much as she usually ate, that was fine, wasn’t it? 

She was torn. Food first, or shower, or caring for her tired ‘mons--?  

She stopped herself. Her fists clenched, thinking back to the frozen corpse in her old home. Taking care of her team came  _ first _ .  _ Always _ . “I’d like a basic checkup, please. It’s been a few days…” 

“Ok, let’s just see your trainer card or Pokedex, please, along with your current team?” 

Kerry produced them, and the nurse blinked, but nodded. “All right, that’ll be about half an hour while we check on them. Would you like to see a doctor as well?” 

Kerry reluctantly nodded. “Uh, can I clean up and eat first?”

“Don’t worry, there’s a queue. It’ll be about two hours.” 

“Who do I see about a room?”

* * *

Ten minutes later, in a change of clothes and her others hanging in a cramped but pleasant bedroom, Kerry sat down to eat, and found herself joined by someone across from her. 

He had tea-green hair, and pale skin, and ice-blue eyes filled with wonder and allergies. He didn’t have a Pokémon with him, but that wasn’t too unusual, even in a Center. For a moment, he looked around, like he was expecting someone to come up and stop him, and then said, “Hi! Uh, can I sit here?” 

“Uh, sure.” Kerry shrugged. “So who are you?” 

“Oh. My name’s Wally. I moved here a few weeks ago. Lung problems.” 

Kerry paused and tilted her head. Wally needed cleaner air, so they moved to the place with… The active volcano? “To Hoenn?” 

Wally nodded. “Petalburg is better than the last city I was in, and the volcano doesn’t dump ash and sulfur every day. But… I kinda miss my friends.” 

Kerry nodded, a little more energetic now that she’d started actually eating. “What were they like?” 

“Oh-- well, a lot of them were-- kinda like me. None of us could really train Pokemon or travel, so we, uh… Did this. Talking to trainers in Centers I mean? But everyone here seems to get along really well with Pokemon, I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t.” 

“Oh, so they were… Hurt?” Kerry wasn’t sure that was the right term? “That seems a shame, though… -- Oh! Oh right I should introduce myself.”

Listen. Kerry has already introduced herself four times in this narrative, I’m not doing it a fifth time. You know who she is, I know who she is. If at any time, reader, you wonder if Kerry has introduced herself to an important personage, and someone else isn’t doing the introducing, she’s probably done it. 

“Oh, you were a gym trainer? What made you decide to strike out?” 

Kerry looked aside for a moment and struggled to come up with the right words, before giving up and leaning on one elbow. “It’s. It’s complicated. I didn’t want to stick around. And I never want to have to use Ice-types again.” 

“Ice types are pretty rough to use,” Wally said. “Or. That’s what I read in the battler magazines, anyway. There’s articles about getting the most out of Ice-types pretty often. And how far did you--” 

Kerry presented the back of her trainer card, where four copies of the Icicle Badge were stamped in the place of 1-4. 

“Wow! You’re pretty strong!” 

Kerry rubbed her neck. While Wally’s enthusiasm was infectious, she couldn’t escape the feeling that she was simply being tolerated. Wally, meanwhile, was hanging on her every word. Especially when he heard that she’d managed to get as far as she did in less than a year! She had real talent! “I mean, if you don’t like Ice-types, I can only imagine what will happen when you work with a type you  _ like!” _

“Miss Kerry?” The nurse asked, and Kerry nodded. “The checkup is done. All of them are mostly tired from a hard day of training.” 

“Can they take a meal with me?” Kerry asked. 

“Of course!” 

Wally looked suddenly super hopeful, but when Li, Butterball, Cinders, and Zaggy arrived, he was a little hesitant to reach out to them. This was just fine by Cinders and Li, who decided to take up a place on Kerry’s lap. The warmth was more relaxing than she wanted to admit. 

Butterball was first to approach Wally, sniffing hesitantly himself. “Oh, wow! That’s an amazing color…” He gently reached forward, and Butterball shrank back before booping Wally’s hand with his nose. 

Wally’s eyes widened and he grinned like he’d just been chosen by a god. He gently patted Butterball’s head. 

“Easy does it,” Kerry said, while Butterball looked back at her. She nodded, and Butterball flopped himself into Wally’s lap. 

“Wow, he’s so cold!” 

Kerry laughed. “Actually I’m a little worried about him. He’s used to a lot colder temperatures.” 

“Right, because you were in an ice gym.” 

“Right.”  _ Sure, let’s go with that. _ Zaggy looked between them and decided to hang around Butterball for now, but set herself a little bit away from him and Wally. 

This peaceful moment, with Wally carefully getting to know Butterball and Zaggy while Kerry fed the brood and herself, was broken when Wally looked towards the door and started in shock. “Oh, uh, my dad’s here. I should go.” 

Kerry hummed with distrust. 

“No, no, it’s okay, I just shouldn’t stay up too late, or my chest will hurt all day tomorrow.” 

“Well… Okay. Get some rest then. Butterball? Come here.” Butterball nodded and bounced out of Wally’s lap to land behind Kerry. Butterball clapped to himself when Kerry said, “Good work!” 

Thus freed from his imprisonment, Wally waved Kerry goodbye and followed his dad, slouched over. Was he disappointed? 

* * *

The next day, Kerry awoke from nightmares. Nightmares of the earth shaking and splitting open, of the great volcano in the center of the big island erupting, of a baleful, glowing red eye surrounded by a torc. 

Thus irritated, she went hunting among Petalburg for the local gym. She didn’t  _ want _ to, but as someone pursuing a journey, she at least had to talk to  _ someone _ official. 

It was still mid-morning and a swim in the man-made lake later that Kerry found someone talking with Wally and his father next to a large old-style building. The league symbol outside made it clear that this was the Petalburg Gym. Which made the man in front either Senri, or a subordinate. 

He was a couple inches taller than Wally’s dad, whose name hadn’t come up last night. Wally’s Dad himself was one of the hundreds of forgettable, puntable faces Kerry had encountered. Did Wally dye his hair? Or maybe his mom had green hair? They were both equally likely at this point.

“Wally, you really need to get going. You need to make Mauville by nightfall, and with your condition--” His dad said, while the official put up a hand to him to stop.

“Wally!” Kerry called, waving. She walked up. 

“Hm? You know him?” the official asked. 

“Well, we met yesterday, but a little bit…” 

Wally nodded. “This is Kerry! She’s passing through. Kerry, this is Senri, the Petalburg Gym Leader.” 

Kerry straightened up immediately, but looked up at him with distrust. 

Senri nodded. “Right. I have a compromise. I can fly Wally to Mauville, so time isn’t an issue. However. As Gym Leader, I get to choose what pokemon to loan to Wally. You. Kerry. What’s the weakest link in your team right now?” 

Kerry blinked and tilted her head. “Uh, that’d be my Zigzagoon, Zaggy, but--”

“Good. Loan it to him so he can catch a pokemon on 102.” 

“Uh…” Kerry looked at him, slack-jawed, not sure she just heard what she  _ thought _ she heard. “If you’re that confident in his abilities, surely it’d be better to loan him one you have on hand?” 

Senri raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Are you not confident in your Zaggy’s ability?” 

“I caught her  _ yesterday _ ?” 

“So no more difficult to control than anything I’d have, and a fair bit less dangerous,” Senri nodded. “She’s perfect for this.” 

… When Senri put it like that, Kerry couldn’t really  _ argue _ with the logic, but it still felt like she’d just had her arm pinned to her back. “Do you have your written done, Wally?” 

Wally nodded. 

“All right,” Kerry nodded back, taking Wally by the hand. Wally looked down at the hand, then back up at Kerry while she talked. Kerry felt a ping of nerves. “We’ll be back by noon.” 

“Huh?” Senri said. 

“You think I’m leaving Zaggy  _ alone _ with Wally? Ha, fat chance.” 

Senri blinked. “No, I suppose that’s fair. And I should supply him with a starting kit.” 

Six Pokeballs, a potion, and an ID card. Wally especially looked at the ID card and seemed to be looking at it most of the way to 102, giggling the whole time. 

Eventually, once they reached the footpath out of town, Wally said-- “I can’t believe you stood up to Senri like that, though.” 

“Where does he get off, asking  _ someone else _ to put up a Pokemon for something  _ he _ believes in,” Kerry grumbled. “It-- uh, nothing against you, but that’s very unusual, especially if the person in question isn’t even a gym trainer.”

“I thought it was!” 

Kerry handed Wally the ball with Zaggy in it. “Okay. Listen. That old asshole might think this is a cute way to keep his hands clean and listen to your dad’s wishes, but forget him.” 

“Eh?” 

“I’m here for you,” Kerry nodded. “So what’s he gonna do? Follow us with one of his trainers? Demand I not help you? Guy needs to get over himself. You deserve a better start than that.” 

Wally blinked, sniffled his nose, and nodded. “Thank.. Thank you?” 

“Don’t thank me yet, Wally. You still have to find and catch something, you know?” 

Regardless, Kerry could almost feel the admiration rolling off Wally. It made her smile, and then wonder if she’d fooled him at some point. 

I should take the time to make clear, at this point, that Kerry isn’t really fooling anyone but herself. It happens an awful lot to people. People think they’re more good, or more evil, than they really are, all the time. This is especially tilted towards evil if those around children treat them as burdens, hidden shames, or merely tools for their own advancement. 

Still, to this outpouring of positivity between herself and Wally came something fairly curious. 

Ralts, a pair of them. Wally gasped, and both of their horns vibrated. For a moment, Kerry felt… Curiosity? An odd blending of curiosity and eagerness? 

Wally looked at Kerry, confused. “Do you--” 

Kerry nodded, and leveled her Pokedex’s camera at the Ralts to start recording. “Huh. It’s pretty rare for two Pokemon to show up at the same time… So, do you two want to see if you can come along?” 

The Pokedex started scrolling various information and tidbits about Ralts as she recorded them, but the most relevant bit jumped out almost immediately.  _ Ralts are attracted to positive emotions. They’re generally very skittish and will run if they detect hostility. _

Now it was Kerry’s turn to gasp. She wasn’t hostile to them? That was quite a surprise to her. 

The Ralts approached, both of them, and their horns vibrated. Both Wally and Kerry were pushed back in the tall grass some distance. Kerry retained her footing, but Wally fell over. “Are you OK?” Kerry asked, running over. 

He waved her off and stood up. He had a few grass stains on his slacks, but other than that he looked unharmed. “Y- yeah, but-- what do I do!?” 

“Easy does it. I’m here.” She presented the Pokeball with Cinders inside it, tapped the button, and let it expand to the size of a softball in her hand. “When the ball is like this, that means it’s armed. If a ball is in its sale size, it won’t activate.” 

Wally nodded, and tapped the button on Zaggy’s ball. “O-okay, now I send it out?” 

Kerry nodded, and threw Cinders in. Wally followed with Zaggy. His throwing arm wasn’t quite as strong, and his form was terrible. 

“You don’t want to fight too hard—!!!” Kerry and Cinders leapt out of the way of the Ralts’ next strike. She grinned at the two Ralts. “I like you two already. Okay, Wally, give it some—“

“Zaggy! Headbutt!” 

Kerry blinked. “-- or maybe you just straight up memorized everything Zigzagoon can learn, sure, go ahead. Cinders, Ember--” 

“Uh-- Uh-- Now what?!” 

Kerry pulled out an empty Pokeball. It was a lot of money, considering the sales tax, but… “Okay! Let’s throw together! One--” 

“ _ Two!”  _

_ “Three! _ ” Both of them shouted at once, and threw in remarkable sync. Wally’s throwing arm was better than Kerry expected, landing a hit from a good six meters at about the same time Kerry's landed.

Kerry felt her heartbeat quicken, the capture mechanism eventually working out and turning safe. 

Wally was over the moon, dancing in the tall grass and spinning around with Zaggy doing an excited dance around him-- Until he doubled over, wheezing, gasping for air. Kerry sped over to him. “Whoa, whoa, take it easy. You got it.” 

Wally’s breathing became hoarse and labored, but still he waved Kerry off.

“Is there something you have--” 

Wally nodded and fumbled in his bag for a moment, finally recovering a spray-type medicine dispenser that he inhaled as soon as he could manage. “... Sorry about that…” 

“It’s fine,” Kerry replied, smiling. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Need a minute?” 

Wally nodded. After a few seconds, he groaned.“... I hate this.” 

Kerry pulled up a handy black rock and motioned for Wally to sit down near her. 

Wally looked at her, looked at the rock, heaved a breath that still wheezed, and then sat down so their hips were touching. 

Kerry hesitated for a moment and then thought,  _ What would Satoshi say _ ? … It didn’t really help but she tried anyway. “I. I don’t know a lot about… You know. Traveling and Pokemon journeys, but I think you did pretty good. You knew how to use Zaggy pretty well, you understood why you wanted to use Headbutt, and, uh--” 

“It’s okay. You don’t need to… Say all those things?” Wally held the Pokeball with his Ralts high into the sky, waving to the being within, who waved back. “I understand what you mean. … But they’ll worry if I don’t get back to them. But… Do you really think I have what it takes?” 

“Yeah!” Kerry nodded. She got out some food for Zaggy and Cinders and her new Ralts. Hm. Girl. Strange coloration, too... “What are you gonna name yours?” 

“I dunno, uh… Hm. Something nice, I guess. This one’s a boy… Um…” Wally looked at him and tilted his head. “-- Huh! I should pick something strong and elegant. Like, uh--” 

It was at this moment that Zaggy landed back in Wally’s lap, with something in his mouth. A black ball, marked on top with a big, yellow H. 

Wally laughed and then coughed a little. “How about Ultra then?” 

“... If you name yours Ultra I’m gonna name mine Sparkle.” 

“Nooooooo!” They both laughed, and leaned against each other, and for once, Wally wasn’t coughing. 

“Rested up?” Kerry asked.

Wally started when he realized that he’d leaned into Kerry, shifting away, just a little bit out of comfortable cuddling range. He nodded. “And... my dad’s probably worried...” 

It wasn’t too long in the afternoon when they got back to Senri, who was animatedly talking with-- 

_ Holy shit.  _

That was Haruka. _And_ _Satoshi_. 

Senri turned to Kerry and Wally. “Ah-- I gotta take this kid to Mauville. I’ll be back soon and we can have that match. -- You. Wally. Have you flown somewhere before?” 

Wally shook his head.

“Okay. I’m gonna give you a dust mask, and then we’re gonna get on out of here.” 

Wally waved to her as Senri called out his Pidgeot, and Kerry waved back. “GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY!” 

“THANKS!” 

Kerry’s attention fell away as Haruka and Satoshi came up to her. “Hey! You skipped out just before the good part,” Haruka said. “Oh! And this guy is from Kanto too, he’s--” 

“Satoshi,” Kerry said. “We’ve met.” 


	6. Misplaced In A Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :files:

When Senri and Wally left, it became a whirlwind of stories. Haruka had chosen a Mudkip not long after Kerry left, and Brendan a Treecko not long after that-- and then Satoshi had shown up. 

Turns out Sparky had been having some trouble. “-- Wait, seriously? Someone tried to run  _ more _ current through a Pikachu!?” Kerry asked. 

“Well, I mean, you’ve met those three. They’d try anything.” 

“... I guess?” Kerry said, continuing to eat. “I only met them the once, remember.” 

“Oh yeah!” Satoshi says with a nod. 

“Hey, you got a Torchic, huh? And a Ralts!” Haruka said. “That’s neat.”

“Yeah, it showed up when I went out with Wally to catch Wally’s first.”

“Who  _ is  _ Wally, anyway?” Haruka asked. Kerry briefly explained.

“Oh! … Hm.” Haruka looked Kerry over. “You need new clothes.”

“I mean, yeah, I’m used to Sinnoh—“

“No, I mean you don’t match with Torchic-- Come on, let’s get you to a clothes shop--” 

“-- Can we keep talking about this while we do that?” Kerry asked. 

“Oh, yeah, we’ll uh. Trade stories and stuff? I guess it’s been a long time since you and Satoshi talked, huh?” 

* * *

 

“So that’s when it turns out they outdid themselves,” Satoshi said. “They decided to drain out Sparky’s electricity with their--” 

“We’re here!” How Haruka had found a clothes shop, Kerry didn’t know. She could guess that Haruka’s dad was footing the bill for the clothing. 

“So when I met you last you had a full team,” Kerry said, “What happened? Why’s it only Sparky again?” 

“I don’t like moving Pokemon too far out of their natural habitat,” Satoshi explained. “So the only Pokemon I bring with me to any new region is Sparky. He was the very first Pokemon I ever had.” 

“Here!” Haruka said, shoving a bundle into Kerry’s arms. “This should work.” 

Kerry emerged from the changing room in a red singlet with a black undershirt she felt she didn’t need, and a pair of bike shorts underneath a pair of white denim shorts. Haruka tilted her head this way and that, even looking to Cinders and Li for a moment, kneeling down like she was trying to grasp a full picture. “Mmmm, not quite-- Oh! I know!” 

Kerry blinked, confused, and then Haruka pulled off her own bandana, which had been keeping her mid-back-length hair under control, and quickly tied up Kerry’s hair with it. “There! That’s perfect!” 

Kerry took a moment to look over the outfit in the mirror, while her Pokemon hopped up on to her. She had to admit, the bright colors against her dark skin worked well, and the Pokemon didn’t hurt her eyes to look at. All the same-- “But… What are you gonna do, Haruka?” 

“Oh, that’s easy. I got a Mudkip, so…” She started getting blues and earth tones off the racks and then walked into the changing room. 

It was no less colorful than Kerry’s, but it definitely had the sense of someone who was going to be tracking around in mud a lot, with hints of orange for visibility and to match the little crests on Mudkip’s face. A deep, oceanic blue bandana now tied up her hair. 

“Wow, you really went the whole nine yards on the Mudkip stuff, huh?” Satoshi said. 

“I like Mudkips,” Haruka declared, nodding.

Kerry reviewed her cash situation. It was a little more dire than she wanted to admit-- she hadn’t made close to her starting stake back yet, and didn’t know the back ways well enough yet to go around challenging higher-end trainers (if any even existed between Oldale and Petalburg). So she had spent a lot, and hadn’t gotten much in return. 

All the same, she couldn’t avoid admitting a sad truth: her old clothes were completely unsuited to the climate, if yesterday and today were any indication. She’d have to buy an entirely new wardrobe soon anyway. This simply played her hand sooner than she wanted. With a little apprehension-- she didn't like being in debt-- she nodded. "Thanks for this." 

Haruka laughed. "Whatever. You help people, right?" 

* * *

 

The way out of town was watched over by the front of the Gym, which is why, when the three of them headed up past the Pokemon Center, they were able to watch as Senri alit on his gigantic Pidgeot, giving the slightly tired thing quite a bit of grooming before putting it away-- 

Or at least he would, if he hadn’t caught the three of them coming. For about half a minute, he looked confusedly between Kerry and his daughter, before finally saying, “Haruka, what have I told you about dressing other people?” 

“It’s not polite…” Haruka said. 

“No, no, it’s fine. All my clothes were cold-weather anyway. I needed something else. But uh-- Did Wally make it to Verdanturf okay?” 

Senri shrugged. “Not really my business,” he said, removing the ride harness. 

“Did you… Send him with someone?” Kerry gently asked. 

“He’s fine, he’s got that Ralts, remember?” 

“You--” Kerry’s anger started to well up in her, giving a sickening feeling to her Aura that, briefly, she reveled in. “Are you-- what!? You left him alone? With a Pokemon that doesn’t know any damaging moves? And at least a day’s travel to go!?” 

Kerry turned on her heel and started to head west. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Satoshi said. 

“To Mauville!” Kerry shouted. “I’m not leaving him to--” 

Satoshi put a hand on her shoulder. “If you go like that, you’ll anger every Pokemon on 102 and 103.” 

“Fine, then I’ll fight Senri--” 

He shook his head. “No, I’ll fight Senri. I mean, you’ve still gotta get going, right? That’s what you said earlier.” 

“Still need to go to Mauville--” 

“I’ll handle that--” 

“You’ll do no such thing,” Senri said. “He should be able to stand on his own.” 

All at once, Kerry’s anger flared up, and everyone took several steps back. The presence was choking in its fury. Satoshi could move, but everyone else was now staring at her with nothing but fear in their eyes. Not that Kerry cared. 

Candice might have been many things, but the one thing she hadn’t been was unaware of the dangers outside her own town, and had been careful to keep the trainers under her care from getting too far over their heads. To see Senri failing even this basic task was not to be borne. “Who is gym leader in Mauville.” 

“Uh, Wattson, I think--” Satoshi said. 

“Did you leave Wally with Wattson, Senri?” Her voice was, to all appearances, calm. She strode forward. 

Senri swallowed and took a step back. “This is--” 

“Answer me.” 

“-- this constitutes assault--” his voice trembled just a little. 

“You have, quite possibly, left someone to die, I think I’m--” 

“That’s enough!” Satoshi said, trying to step between Kerry and Senri. “Senri! I’m challenging you, right here and now! Kerry, I think you should call Wally and tell him to check in with Wattson before you do anything else, OK?” 

That seemed to snap Senri out of it briefly. “I don’t--” 

“Now,” Satoshi said, firmly. “You were gonna fight me anyway, right?” 

That seemed to break the tension on Kerry’s part, and she nodded and headed west. 

Satoshi looked to his Pikachu. “You OK with this, Sparky?” 

Sparky nodded. “Chu.” 

“Then let’s get started.” 

* * *

 

Hands still shaking a little, Kerry called the number Wally had punched in for his PokeNav.  _ Come on, _ she thought. _ Please pick up. Please be OK. You’re quite possibly the first tolerable person I’ve met on Hoenn-- _

“-- Hello?” Wally said, and Kerry breathed a sigh of relief. 

“H-hey, Wally, this is Kerry. I just wanted to make sure you’re OK. Did you check in with Wattson?” 

“Yeah! Senri left without a word, but I figured it was a better plan than just starting my trip.” There was a pause on the other end of the line, before Wally continued, “Uh, what’s that weird distortion I’m hearing? Are you somewhere with a lot of Electric types?” 

Belatedly, Kerry realized how tightly she was holding her PokeGear. “N-no, I’m nowhere like that. I’m on 104. Not sure whether to try to get a ferry to Dewford or try and take the forest.” 

“Aw, wow, Petalburg Forest? I wanna go there someday!” 

“... I’ll take pictures for you, then.”

“-- Really? Uh-- see if you can get a good one of a Wurmple or a Seedot, then! I’ll head north soon. And-- hey, maybe we can meet again in Verdanturf. I heard they’re digging a tunnel from Rustboro!” 

“Yeah, that works. OK. And uh. Thanks? It was good to meet you, Wally.” 

“Thank you for checking in on me. My parents haven’t yet. And it was good to meet you, too.” 

Kerry hung up, and realized only belatedly that she’d walked most of the way up the coast while she was talking. There was sand in her shoes, but she found she didn’t mind that nearly as much because it was warm. The sun beat on her face and she basked in it for a few seconds. 

“Hey! I’m running laps here! I’mma fight you--” 

* * *

One minute later, Kerry counted the meager winnings. It was probably half this kid’s lunch money. “Listen. Are you gonna be OK?” 

“I’ll be fine, lady,” the kid huffed.

Kerry laughed. “Yeah, OK. Get to the Center, all right?” 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, I know the drill.” He walked off, muttering something about penny-pinching grandmas.

The entire way up to the forbidding footpath back up the coastal cliffs and into the Petalburg Forest was like that— she helped some who were having trouble, but mostly she flattened, rolled up, and tossed aside various challenges until the light started to fade in the forest. 

Kerry checked her map. The various deer-tracks and Pokemon calls had calmed her, though she was still sweating. Without the sun beating down on her, the heat in Hoenn felt more oppressive than freeing. 

She was following a Wurmple with her Pokedex and getting ready to catch it for trading with Wally later when the switchback hit its turn and the sound of a case hitting the forest floor startled the Wurmple off. 

The hell was that? 

“All right, old man. Hand it over.” This was a man in a red hoodie and flame-resistant clothes who had a big M emblazoned on his chest. 

“You’re not getting this!” The older man said. He was wearing a white duster. 

_ Who sends a scientist to do a courier’s job? And why is he still wearing a labcoat?  _ These were undoubtedly questions for later. All around the both of them were the signs of a long, all-out Pokemon battle. The grass withered, hissed, and spat. Places had turned from normal ground to treacherous glass. Furrows and rents in the ground where attacks had missed were all over. 

Kerry started thinking quickly as she crept closer, looking over the damage and the craters. _So. At least three pokemon each. Types: electric, poison, flying? Steel? Normal, maybe?_ _… The local mons will probably be pissed off if things go on much longer._  

“I said hand over the papers." On closer inspection, the suit was closer to a gambeson or bomb armor than a cultists' hoodie. 

Kerry nodded at Cinders and Li, who nodded back. She damped her aura, and ran forward to catch the case. 

“HEY-- YOU STUPID KID--” 

“EAT ME!” Kerry replied. " _NOW!_ " 

Then the guy threw out a Poochyena, which started to run away with the case and papers. 

“You won’t get mercy from me just because you’re a little kid!” The man shouted. 

Kerry ignored him. She flared up her aura-- One step, one breath, two-- 

Cinders had a little trouble keeping up. Suddenly the desire for bare skin came back to bite Kerry-- the Poochyena dropped the case and bit into her ankle. She grit her teeth, but her sock and shoe had taken some of the damage, at least. A shame, she’d liked these shoes, too. 

Cinders caught up, breathing fire. The Poochyena let go rather than face the full force of those embers. It growled. 

By the time the man caught up, huffing and puffing, the Poochyena was quite ready to stop trying to fight. 

Fine by the man, who snatched up the forgotten case and started running. Kerry slammed him into the dirt, face first, sliding on him, and took the case back. “You hack.” 

A brief exchange of goods later, and Kerry heard two pair of hands doing some long, slow clapping, while the man who’d tried to steal the papers set off running. “Who the hell--” 

“Well, well, well! Looks like we’re not the only ones who turned to a life of crime, eh, Kojirou?” 

“It’s true. You did pretty well for your first mugging.” Musashi and Kojirou stepped out of the bushes to congratulate her. 

“-- You three!” Kerry charged up again, drawing on reserves she probably didn’t have--

“Take it easy, twerpette, we don’t care what you did to some idiot in the woods.” Musashi put her hands on her hips. “But you should know something. That guy was a member of Team Magma.” 

“What’s your angle?” Kerry said, suddenly suspicious of this new friendship. “And where’s the cat?” 

“I’m right here, don’t get yer panties in a bunch.” Ah, there was the Meowth. He scratched his ears for a moment or two, then added, “Besides, what’s bad for them is good for us! They been musclin’ in on our racket for years. Besides, you got moxie.” 

“You got  _ class! _ ” Kojirou agreed. 

“You’ve got the skills to put the hurt on fast!” Musashi said with the other two. 

“So… Your deal is… You want me to succeed, so the Rockets can come in,” Kerry translated. 

“Such a smart girl!” Musashi said, nodding. 

“Didn’t they disband a few years ago? Again?” 

“We’re kind of a special case,” the Meowth explained. “See, I used to be the Boss’s personal lapcat. So we’re personally connected, see?” 

“Ah, you’re his personal stooges,” Kerry nodded. 

“-- Please don’t put it like that.” 

“Well, either way, listen. I’m trying to make Rustboro by nightfall, but it looks like that’s not going to be possible. I’ve got some food, if you’ve got a place I can cook it.” 

* * *

It turned out that the three of them weren’t as buffoonish as all that; they’d gotten a nice little camp together, in which several of their Pokemon were standing guard. A cookfire and a rather serious spread were all around. Kerry blinked. 

“Come on, we’re not  _ always _ on a famine.” Musashi said. 

“We are on a budget, though,” Meowth noted. 

“Which you use to make weird contraptions. I don’t have much sympathy,” Kerry said, looking through her storage for the right balls. “Ah, here we are--” 

There was a moment where all of them marveled at the meat Kerry put on display. This led to dubious looks a bit later while she counted up her remaining credit chits.

“Oh? Where did you get those?” Musashi asked.

“Fought people for wagers. I thought it’d go farther, but…”

Musashi and Kojirou looked at each other. “Wow, that takes me back,” Musashi said. 

“Ha, we used to be terrors,” Kojirou agreed. “So what’s your strategy?” 

Kerry shrugged. “I dunno, usually I just lead with Li and pound the crap out of them once they agree to a wager.” 

“Ha, oh man. No one ever got ahead by being  _ honest _ , kid,” Meowth said. “Listen, you gotta troll for marks if you’re trying to get the  _ real _ cash.” 

“Uh?” Kerry said, pausing in her eating to listen. 

“Stick with us, kid. We’ll show you how it’s done. Hey, Kojiro, we still have that Luck Incense, right?” 

“-- That stuff’s so expensive, though!” Kerry said. “And it doesn’t  _ do _ anythi-- Ohhhhhhh.” 

“Now she’s gettin’ it,” Meowth said. 

“Yeah, exactly! It doesn’t matter how much money you  _ have _ , it’s about making the other guy think you  _ do _ !” Musashi said. 

“Isn’t that… Fraud?” 

“It’s not fraud if you never say how much you have,” Kojirou said. 

Musashi continued, “It’s not  _ your _ fault they thought you were loaded with more cash than sense because you gave your Meowth an antique coin and luck incense.” 

“And you fulfilled the letter of your agreement! It’s technically legal!” Meowth added. 

“That’s the best  _ kind _ of legal!” Kojiro chimed in.

Kerry, listening to this sage advice that is regardless kind of evil, rubbed her nose, and nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.” 

“Eh, not now. It’s dark. And you need your rest too, right? Tomorrow.” 

“But--” 

“ _ Tomorrow _ ,” Musashi insisted. “Go to bed. We can talk more about it in the morning.” 

Kerry groaned, but did as she was told.

* * *

“You OK with this, Sparkle?” Kerry’s nerves were shot. She’d gotten another nightmare last night-- the same one from when she’d arrived. The earth shaking and rising up. Eruptions. A single, baleful eye. 

Sparkle nodded. A feeling of tentative satisfaction made Kerry blink. 

“Okay. If you say so.” Kerry swallowed and waited. 

“Hey, kid. This place is a little bit dangerous, wouldn’t you say?” 

Kerry looked over the character. Maroon tracksuit, had a Breloom. “Maybe. But I’m lookin’ for a challenge.” 

The ace trainer laughed. “Well, I don’t know about that--” 

“I’ll put up a quarter of my money.”

“-- But who am I to deny someone giving me cash? I’ll put up halfsies.” 

* * *

Kerry checked the credit the trainer had handed over and laughed. That should be more than enough for the next few days. 

“Hey, kid,” Musashi said, putting her hand on Kerry’s shoulder. “You did good! But… Let me ask you something: 

“Do you know how that could have gone better?” 

“I’m listening…” And so she did.


	7. Grass-Roots Redistribution Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shady colonial ecological activists distributing pokemon is no way to run a region.

Kerry walked out of the Rustboro Gym with a shiny new Stone Badge, a good amount of respect for Cinders, a new appreciation for typing challenges, and the simple pride of having won with absolutely no type advantage going in. 

She grinned, recalling Roxanne’s shocked face. She’d been slack-jawed for half a second before recovering and nodding. “Well! You’ve certainly got a head for strategy, even with a type disadvantage. Not only that-- A Ralts with Confuse Ray so early is surprising, and I didn’t even know Poochyena could _learn_ Ice Fang! You’ve earned this, and thank you for showing everyone at my school how it’s done!” She bowed deeply. 

Kerry, for her part, had felt largely confused. Was. Was Roxanne having one on at her? She bowed, quietly. “Uh. Thank you?”  

Still, now she had it, and there it was, shining on the back of her old trainer card in place of the first stamp. She couldn’t resist thinking, _That’s a good start. Let’s cover up the other three._

“ _STOP!”_

 _“LIKE HELL!_ ” 

Kerry turned her head immediately towards the ruckus. There, running past her, was a man in leather and thick fire-resistant cloth, being chased by several men in labcoats and a man with a Wingull already out, trying to blast them. On the one hand, Cinders, Zaggy, Sparkle, and Bitey were kinda tired. On the other hand, she still had Li and Butterball to fall back on if things got too rough. 

 _I could go to the Pokemon Center, let my Pokemon rest. It’s not my business. It’s not my business, I don’t need to get involved._ Of course by the time she’d thought, that she was already running in the direction of danger.

"H-Hey! Hey, Wait, wait,--" one of the labcoated men tried to shout after her, entirely out of breath. "Wait, aren't you-- the one who saved me in Petalburg woods?” 

Some bystanders turned to look at Kerry. Of course she recognized the man she helped two days ago, but it would have been really helpful to not. “-- Yeah, what’s it to ya?” 

“-- Someone just stole some parts from my lab--” 

“And you couldn’t catch ‘em? Did you see where they went?” 

“Went. Down. 116--” 

Kerry looked it up on her PokeGear while the scientist blathered on something about team composition and other boring stuff. 116… 116 was a mess. A long dog-leg pass that went south around Mt. Chimney and was full of nearly impassable terrain and a wildlife spread of mature Pokemon and precarious maneuvering. But up until the pass, it was pleasant enough, and 116 lead to-- 

 _Verdanturf! … I should call Wally._  "So in other words, this guy has a couple of weakened Dark, Fire, and Ground types and decided to hoof it and you want me to go after him. Got it. Back before a Pikachu--" 

"No! The  _parts,_ you have to get back the  _parts!_ \--" The engineer called after her, then sighed. "Oh, hell on a sandwich." 

“Hey Kerry! I was just thinking of calling you.” Wally’s voice on the other end was already less hesitant, less labored. 

“Yeah! Uh, hey, did you make it to Verdanturf OK?” 

“Yeah, I’m living with my aunt and uncle, now. I caught a Skitty, too, so that was nice. Were you thinking of coming over?” 

“Possibly. Listen, has anyone come by through 116 lately?” 

“116!?” Wally said. “A volcanic eruption cut that off a year or so back. That’s why the tunnel was getting made, but… I heard it was delayed.” 

Kerry immediately brightened. “That’s great!” 

“It is? It means you can’t visit, though… Are you in Rustboro?” 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll explain later. But this means what I’m doing isn’t hopeless!”

“What?” Wally’s tone became more concerned. “Kerry, what are you doing? Why is there wind in the mic?”

“I’m in a bit of a hurry, but there’s someone I’m chasing, they stole something from, uh— some company—“

“In— From _Devon?!_ And Devon isn’t calling the League— Kerry, who took the parts?”

“I dunno, some jerk in red?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Kerry, I don’t know why you’re chasing around Team Magma, but—“

“Oh they’re Team Magma? That’s even better!”

* * *

“Kerry, no,” Wally said, pleading, only to realize the line was dead. He sighed. “Nooooooo.”

This was gonna be trouble. How did Kerry get involved with shady ecology activists!? 

* * *

Kerry was almost to the base of the switchbacks when she saw why the way was blocked— a massive black formation that ran all the way up Mt Chimney. It must have been her imagination that some cracks in the lava were glowing. Surely. 

 _Putting more distance would seem to be prudent, then,_ Kerry thought. Around the next bend in the road, however, there was a mid-size building, around which a bunch of drilling equipment was waiting to be activated and wheeled in to the nearby tunnel. 

None of it was moving right now, however, and several construction workers, complete with hardhats, and a rather large martial artist, were sitting, grumbling, and talking about recent happenings. 

“Bastard kicked me out,” were the first words Kerry could discern. 

“Well, they’re sure not getting through without you, so come on into The Shed and we’ll relax for a while until the League gets here.” 

“Um…” Kerry said, after a moment. Everyone looked down. She probably looked a sight, between all the sand that had been kicked up in the fight with Roxanne, her pretty obvious malnourishment, and the trek over here at high speed for the last hour. “What exactly happened? I’ve been running after someone…” 

“You think you can take someone like that? What makes you think so?” 

Kerry flashed the back of her Trainer Card. The foreman raised an eyebrow. “Okay, sure, come into The Shed.” 

* * *

It was easy to see why they called it The Shed; it was designed to be used mostly for tools, not people, and most of said tools sat in the dark and the dry collecting dust. Despite that, the high roof and angle made it rather pleasantly cool, and there was a stone oven outside, and soon enough the martial artist eyed the construction workers warily while they gave Kerry a meal suitable to someone hauling heavy equipment all day and demanded she wash her face and hands. 

They called the result a pasty-- a large hand-pie, about the size of Kerry’s forearm. The crust was made of wild grains from the tall grass, and filled with chopped up game from around the area, oil, rice, bean paste, seasonings found around the area, and pickled vegetables. the smell was wonderfu, if a bit clashy. Was that the hint of something sweet under it? 

She was about to break off some for her ‘mons too when the martial artist-- Byron-- handed out food for the lot of them. "Wait, what are you doing?" He asked. 

"My Pokemon are my partners and my livelihood. They eat before I do." Kerry sounded a lot firmer about this point than about everything else that had happened, and the others tilted their heads like she'd grown a second head.  _Oh great, now they think you're some kind of nature girl weirdo. Fantastic._  She covered up her embarrassment by taking a huge bite out of the pasty. As she expected, the taste was a little overwhelming, but she was quickly downing it regardless, having forgotten about the rejection just for the moment. 

The foreman cleared his throat and continued. “Well, you’ve got Roxanne’s badge, so it should be OK… We stopped construction because we emerged in a natural cave system.” 

Kerry made a questioning noise, not sure why this was a problem, until another one continued, “A cave system that’s a nesting ground for Loudred and Exploud. There’s a lot of Whismur in that cave. It’s a collapse risk if we make too much noise and disturb them.” 

Kerry blinked and pulled out her Pokedex, trying to look up Whismur, distracted from the massive pasty in front of her. She swallowed what she’d been eating. “... Oh! Because if they all scream at once, or start a Round--” 

“Yeah,” the foreman said. “So we can’t use the heavy equipment. And a lot of us use big, heavy Rock and Steel types to do work, which is almost as bad. Enter loverboy here. Hey! Hey, eat up, don’t get lost looking up Pokemon.” 

Kerry returned to eating with somewhat less fury than she had before while she listened to Byron talk. 

“Yeah, uh. I have a girlfriend in Verdanturf. And when I heard the construction was delayed, I came to investigate.” he finally uncrossed his arms. “When I found out why, I figured my Pokemon could handle the conditions better than theirs could and set to work.” 

“Normally, I’d be annoyed-- we don’t want people doing for free what we get paid to do, but…” The foreman sighed. “Until the government decides exactly what they want to do here, we’re still getting paid, and bluntly if he can get it done first so we can go do something else, why the hell not?” 

Kerry swallowed another bite and breathed. “So instead you’re… Living here and gathering food locally? Aren’t the Pokemon annoyed?” 

“Ehhhh, sometimes,” the foreman admitted. “But not nearly as much as we’d feared when we started doing it. It’s something to do, and we don’t take any more than we need for a day, so they leave us alone.” 

Kerry looked down at the half-finished pasty, suddenly feeling quite guilty. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine, keep eating,” the foreman said. “Like I said, we’ve got money, we can have food delivered if we really need to, and all of us have already eaten. We just don’t want to ask people to come up from Rustboro too often. 116’s getting reclaimed by the wildlife and we don’t want to disturb the Pokemon too much.” 

“Well, anyway, that was the plan,” Byron said, “Until the League representative showed up.” 

“Oh? Who was it?” Kerry said. 

“Mr. Briney.” At Kerry’s blank, confused expression, the foreman continued for Byron. “He used to be one of the best sailors in Hoenn, about thirty years ago. But now he’s getting on in years and he dotes on his navigation Wingull, Peeko. He’s… Not the best person to really do a proper survey of an underground tunnel, you know? But he’s got a lot of experience, so he started to take readings for other people and let them sort it out.” 

Kerry vaguely recalled an incredibly spry old man running after the lot of researchers and that one guy, and slapped her palm to the table. "Oh! That guy! Yeah I've seen him around. He just came back, did he?" 

"Right!” Byron picked up, “But then that a--” 

All the miners glared at him. He quickly corrected his language. “That jerk of a grunt from Team Magma came and kicked me _and_ Briney out.” 

“Wait, how did that guy beat a League rep?” Kerry asked. “He just got done fighting some guy at Devon.” 

“Remember how Mr. Briney dotes on Peeko? Yeah, uh… The grunt took her hostage.” 

Kerry blinked. “... Dreams and Thought, _please_ tell me you’re joking.” 

“Nope. He’s pacing just inside the entrance right now.” 

Kerry stood up, just having got to the second course of berries and fruit from Fallarbor. “Okay. I think I’ve got this.” 

“-- what?” Byron said. 

“Yeah! I’m going to head in now.” 

“Do you at least have a plan!?” 

“Sure do," Kerry said, shutting her Pokedex with a  _snap_. "Mind telling me what the tunnel and caves are like inside?” 

* * *

The cave was a little hotter than outside, but not by much, and became a little cooler as Kerry went deeper. She was careful to dim her aura so as not to startle the Whismur any more than she had to. She could see them as she passed, and she raised up her Pokedex to take pictures as she went. Turned out they’d started packing in to the carved-out tunnel, too, which explained why they were spilling out into the flatlands around 116-- but it seemed like the rest of the locals were holding their own, especially the Skitty. 

She paused to review the Skitty entry while she finished the last of her pasty. Natural carnivore, tended to hunt whatever it wanted… Yeah, pretty typical of that niche. There were a _lot_ of Whismur to get through, though, and if they came in a horde, it would probably be difficult to get any of them. 

Evolution in action, she supposed. Curiosity and hunger satisfied, she walked deeper in, and… _That’s the wall they told me about, the place they stopped. And there’s the Magma grunt._

“ _Hey! I see you there!”_ The Magma grunt called out, startling Kerry. Couldn’t he _feel_ how many Whismur were around? “ _Dunno who you are, but you’re going to turn around, or the bird gets it!_ ” 

Kerry let her presence flare to normal. “No you’re not. You’re going to battle me. And if I win, you’re going to come quietly and hand over the parts you stole from Devon. Sparkle?” 

Sparkle emerged from her Poke Ball and looked back at Kerry. Kerry winked. Sparkle nodded back. 

The Magma grunt chuckled, partly to ease his nerves. “Oh? And why should I? Huh?” 

“Because if you don’t, I’ll scream.” 

“... So?” 

“So,” Kerry continued, still quiet, “this entire cave is full of Whismur. And if I scream, I’m high pitched enough they’ll pick it up. And start a Round. Unless you want your eardrums to explode and the ceiling to fall in on you? I suggest you do what I tell you.” 

“... Ha, suure, kid,"the grunt said, staring at her. "I'm pretty sure you're just making shit up. But sure, whatever, a battle. If I win, you join up with us. No more heroics, no more bullshit. We go see my boss and you’re in until you pay off your debt, you hear me?” 

Kerry grinned. “Sure.” 

“You’re gonna regret it, though. Come on out, Kerb!” 

A Poochyena! That might be a problem… Kerry looked down at Sparkle. Sparkle sent reassurance and determination back to Kerry. Kerry’s grin grew. “Okay. Sparkle, Confuse Ray.” 

The Magma grunt laughed. “Psychic attacks don’t work on Dark types!” 

The Poochyena lurched, spun around, and bit itself, causing it to yelp in pain. Kerry winced. “Confuse Ray is not Confusion. Sparkle, Disarming Voice.” 

The Magma Grunt and the Poochyena both heard the Ralts… What was that? Was it… Singing? It wasn’t quite. But it felt… Odd. Like a nursery rhyme he forgot at some point…

Kerb lay down and refused to get up and fight. Kerry raised an eyebrow. 

“... Fine, you win,” the Magma grunt said, voice still hazy. 

Kerry picked him up by his clothes, casually. "So let's start with the Pokemon you stole, and _go from there_." 

* * *

“PEEKO!” 

Kerry winced at Mr. Briney’s heartfelt, tearful, and above all, _loud_ reunion with his beloved Wingull. She pushed the grunt forward. “Hey. You agreed to turn yourself in quietly.” 

“Tch. Fine. But this isn’t over. When my boss hears about this, Team Magma is going to crush you.” 

“We’ll see,” Kerry said, walking past Mr. Briney.

“Ah-- Little girl, wait!” Mr. Briney said, coming up to her. “Listen, I owe you a grand favor. If you ever need my help…” 

“... Sure, OK.” She handed over her PokeGear and let Mr. Briney record the number. 

“That said… Little girls shouldn’t be getting involved in things like this. Keep your feet dry and your head on a swivel, little one.” With that, Briney started back down 116, happy as a Shellder in a plankton bloom. 

* * *

“Yes, Mr. Stone, this is her.” 

Kerry looked around at the opulent office, filled with a vast collection of, well, _stones_. Gemstones, ore stones, evolution stones, and more than a few stones she had no clue of the identity of. On the side wall were a small collection of Poke Balls of various kinds. Most of them she recognized. 

“So you’re this… Kerry I’ve been hearing a little about? Got a Stone Badge in one day and then went off to save my staff’s bacon a second time.” Mr. Stone himself was slightly balding and white haired, with smile lines and a broad face. His expression was severe as he considered this information.

Mr. Stone walked from behind his desk and approached her, looking down for a long moment, before bowing deeply. “Thank you. We should not have had to rely on you, but having relied on you, I am very glad we did.” 

Kerry bowed in return, though she still felt a little strange doing so. “You’re very welcome, sir.” 

“... Having said that, can we rely on you one last time? It won’t involve any more fighting on our behalf.” 

Kerry paused, tilting her head. “Um… I’m in the middle of my Junior Certification, so I don’t know how much good I’ll be, but…” 

“No, no, I understand. This would be on your way. There’s a Gym in Dewford Town, if I remember right. And so, while you’re visiting Dewford, I’d really like you to deliver this.” Mr. Stone reached into his coat, and produced a letter, sealed with Devon’s logo. “Please deliver this to a man named Steven. -- Oh, how can I contact you?” 

Kerry held up her NIKIBA PokeGear. Beat-up, orange, black, and green, the battery dying and the casing cracking from where she’d gripped it too hard. 

“... No, no. That won’t do at all. Here, as a repayment and advance for your hard work, take this.” Mr. Stone reached into his desk and produced a brand new PokeNav+, which flipped open to reveal it could do everything her old PokeGear could do on a better screen, with less weight, and with more features, besides. “I understand you’ll need to rest, but if I could suggest-- I can call in a small favor with a man named Mr. Briney, and he can take you to Dewford with the other ferry passengers. Would that work for you?” 

Kerry wasn’t about to turn down a trip to a place she needed to go anyway on someone else’s dime and not even taking up the favor she was owed by Mr. Briney into the bargain. “Yes, I think that would do well enough.”


End file.
